NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, fad diets suck anyways. So you get these people who decide that they're going to lose weight in the manner that requires the least possible effort i.e., they go on a diet. They pick a diet that has been hyped to death but isn't particularly healthy and they starve themselves and then they go back on eating normal food when they've lost some weight and then they get fat again and they repeat this cycle endlessly with different diets (alternately, they go the rest of their lives eating horrible food).

Now, what these people should be doing is getting off their asses and doing something. I've lost an inch and a half from my waist since summer started without changing my eating habits at all... I just bike about 40 mins a day (to and from work) and occasionally play some soccer. It isn't that difficult, but people are lazy bastards who don't want to go to the effort of getting some exercise.

Granted, I eat a pretty healthy diet normally, I can't afford much junk food and I don't eat meat. I do, however, eat candy, cake, cookies et c here and there when I can afford it or have the time to make some (in the case of cookies).

Only one way to lose weight overnight, and that's get liposuction. Fad diets seem mostly to be "leave out food group A and lose weight!". Pity people forget that they need food group A.

A friend of mine from mylast job swears by the cabbage soup diet. :p Probably not the best strategy, but it works occasionally, it seems.

Oh, I forgot the other thing that sucks about fad diets... all the food products out there start adding that they're "low in" whatever the "bad item" is for that particular diet.. for instance, when atkins was really big, I actually saw a steak that had a "low in carbs" sticker on it.

Oh, I forgot the other thing that sucks about fad diets... all the food products out there start adding that they're "low in" whatever the "bad item" is for that particular diet.. for instance, when atkins was really big, I actually saw a steak that had a "low in carbs" sticker on it.

It is, though, isn't it? ;)

A friend of mine from mylast job swears by the cabbage soup diet. :p Probably not the best strategy, but it works occasionally, it seems.

I didn't think that be pleasent to be around. *plugs nose*

my mom was on one of those "eat whatever you want" diets........except she had this book of what she could eat, which really wasn't anything that she liked (she is uber-addicted to junk food) so she would "substitute"

for example

diet's breakfast plan- 1c fresh fruit, 1c cottage cheese, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- 1c fruit and yogurt, 8oz full fat milk

diet's lunch- half turkey sandwich no mayo, handful of almonds, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- foot long turkey sandwich with cheese and mayo, bag of chips, 64oz diet coke

yeah, she gained weight and blamed the diet :rolleyes: oh, and it said to exercise like 40 minutes a day, she substituted that too, she decided that if she just 'kept moving' all day that it would count.

she is really excited about this new FDA approved diet pill now. :p

my mom was on one of those "eat whatever you want" diets........except she had this book of what she could eat, which really wasn't anything that she liked (she is uber-addicted to junk food) so she would "substitute"

for example

diet's breakfast plan- 1c fresh fruit, 1c cottage cheese, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- 1c fruit and yogurt, 8oz full fat milk

diet's lunch- half turkey sandwich no mayo, handful of almonds, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- foot long turkey sandwich with cheese and mayo, bag of chips, 64oz diet coke

yeah, she gained weight and blamed the diet :rolleyes: oh, and it said to exercise like 40 minutes a day, she substituted that too, she decided that if she just 'kept moving' all day that it would count.

she is really excited about this new FDA approved diet pill now. :p

Yeah, the idea of diets is that you eat what they tell you to, not just eat as normal and claim you're on a diet cos you got a book.

my mom was on one of those "eat whatever you want" diets........except she had this book of what she could eat, which really wasn't anything that she liked (she is uber-addicted to junk food) so she would "substitute"

for example

diet's breakfast plan- 1c fresh fruit, 1c cottage cheese, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- 1c fruit and yogurt, 8oz full fat milk

diet's lunch- half turkey sandwich no mayo, handful of almonds, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- foot long turkey sandwich with cheese and mayo, bag of chips, 64oz diet coke

yeah, she gained weight and blamed the diet :rolleyes: oh, and it said to exercise like 40 minutes a day, she substituted that too, she decided that if she just 'kept moving' all day that it would count.

she is really excited about this new FDA approved diet pill now. :p

Is it bad that I find that funny?

my mom was on one of those "eat whatever you want" diets........except she had this book of what she could eat, which really wasn't anything that she liked (she is uber-addicted to junk food) so she would "substitute"

for example

diet's breakfast plan- 1c fresh fruit, 1c cottage cheese, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- 1c fruit and yogurt, 8oz full fat milk

diet's lunch- half turkey sandwich no mayo, handful of almonds, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- foot long turkey sandwich with cheese and mayo, bag of chips, 64oz diet coke

yeah, she gained weight and blamed the diet :rolleyes: oh, and it said to exercise like 40 minutes a day, she substituted that too, she decided that if she just 'kept moving' all day that it would count.

she is really excited about this new FDA approved diet pill now. :p
let me be the first to say: /smack

personally, the way i've managed to lose weight (not that i should've, i was already thin enough) was to get into some really big, time consuming projects at uni. with all of the coming in to uni on the weekends and being there from 9-9 on many days, i kept of forgetting about eating and not packing as much food as i should've so i ended up losing a couple of kilos over the semester (and ruining my metabolism, so i lost a couple of kilos since then, my metabolism has taken half a year to fix up notably). i also think the constant stress of having a minimum of a milestone a week helped a bit...

Yeah, the idea of diets is that you eat what they tell you to, not just eat as normal and claim you're on a diet cos you got a book.
yeah, I know. Tell that to her.

Is it bad that I find that funny?
I thought it was hilarious the first few times, but now it's starting to bother me.....yesterday we go out to lunch and she is again "on a diet" so she orders a salad

with turkey, ham, 3 kinds of cheese, and a bottle of ranch dressing........

oh, yeah, that's healthy :rolleyes:

I have explained to her umpteenth times that you have to eat less than you burn.......but she doesn't seem to get it, she doesn't burn any calories, and then eats 5,000 a day........and can't figure out why she can't lose any weight.

yeah, I know. Tell that to her.

I would enjoy doing so, but I get the feeling that is she doesn't listen to you she's not going to listen to me.

I've started excercising more...just like taking a 20-30 minute walk five or six days a week with my mom. I think I've gained a little weight, though, but I'm not sure. I don't have a functional scale at home.

My friend just lost 12 pounds, but not through any fad diet or anything, and I don't think she was excercising much, either. It's more because she had her tonsils removed and couldn't eat solid food for a while...

I thought it was hilarious the first few times, but now it's starting to bother me.....yesterday we go out to lunch and she is again "on a diet" so she orders a salad

with turkey, ham, 3 kinds of cheese, and a bottle of ranch dressing........

oh, yeah, that's healthy :rolleyes:

I have explained to her umpteenth times that you have to eat less than you burn.......but she doesn't seem to get it, she doesn't burn any calories, and then eats 5,000 a day........and can't figure out why she can't lose any weight.

Well, I guess since she's your mother, you feel bound to do more than just point and laugh. My brother says I'm like that sometimes.

I was on the Atkins diet. It actually worked pretty good. Plan on doing it again once I get more willpower to stop eating potatoes all the time.

a few months back my friend quit being a vegetarian and suddenly all this strange squishy stuff appeared on her body, needless to say it appears meat is evil

my story is I'm an ectomorph so naturally I get to laugh in these situations (until you see my arse of course:p)

I have explained to her umpteenth times that you have to eat less than you burn.......but she doesn't seem to get it, she doesn't burn any calories, and then eats 5,000 a day........and can't figure out why she can't lose any weight.
Fucking hell, 5000 calories a day?? Women are recommended 2000kcal a day from what I remember and that's with some exercise. Anyway, all diets are a load of horseshit. They're often unhealthy and once people come off their diets it's not uncommon for them to actually gain weight above their original weight. When doctors say people need a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise it's for a reason. A shortcut is the longest distance between two points ;)

Fucking hell, 5000 calories a day?? Women are recommended 2000kcal a day from what I remember and that's with some exercise. Anyway, all diets are a load of horseshit. They're often unhealthy and once people come off their diets it's not uncommon for them to actually gain weight above their original weight. When doctors say people need a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise it's for a reason. A shortcut is the longest distance between two points ;)

I do good to get 1200 as long as I steer clear of the soda........if I can go a week without any then I don't want it, and can go months without any, but that first taste again while nasty and acid tasting just puts me back to craving it. On soda days I get like 1600-1800 calories :( freaking sugar sodas.

Meh. If weight were even an issue for me I doubt I could stick to a diet. I very often go whole days without eating anything more than a banana or crackers and when I do eat I can't help but gorge myself.
Basically at any given moment I'm either hungry or I have that "too full" feeling.

I do good to get 1200 as long as I steer clear of the soda........if I can go a week without any then I don't want it, and can go months without any, but that first taste again while nasty and acid tasting just puts me back to craving it. On soda days I get like 1600-1800 calories :( freaking sugar sodas.

Speaking of which… here's something to try:
Take a can of pop. Take note of its sugar content.
Pour out a that same amount of sugar (by weight) onto a kitchen scale.
Ask yourself: would I rather drink the pop or just eat the sugar?

Speaking of which… here's something to try:
Take a can of pop. Take note of its sugar content.
Pour out a that same amount of sugar (by weight) onto a kitchen scale.
Ask yourself: would I rather drink the pop or just eat the sugar?

Why would you want to eat a handful of raw sugar? :p I guess I could eat a cube or two, but it tastes better in soda. ;)

I do good to get 1200 as long as I steer clear of the soda........if I can go a week without any then I don't want it, and can go months without any, but that first taste again while nasty and acid tasting just puts me back to craving it. On soda days I get like 1600-1800 calories :( freaking sugar sodas.

You should still be rail-thin on 1800 calories/day over time, unless you're around 4'9. ;)

Why would you want to eat a handful of raw sugar? :p I guess I could eat a cube or two, but it tastes better in soda. ;)

Why wouldn't you? And who said it has to be raw? Cook it all you like for all I care! :p

Look at it this way: the pop dilutes the sugary goodness.

Why wouldn't you? And who said it has to be raw? Cook it all you like for all I care! :p

Look at it this way: the pop dilutes the sugary goodness.

Ah, maybe. I think I'm just not a big sugar-eater. :p

Sugar soda does have a lot of calories, though. I usually prefer comparing the calories in soda to foods I like, rather than to raw sugar - skipping that 180 calories in a grape soda means I can eat almost 3 eggs later! :) That kind of thing.

You should still be rail-thin on 1800 calories/day over time, unless you're around 4'9. ;)

I am 5'0" even thankyouverymuch.

also, I am on a lot of meds that screw up my metabolism so eating 2K calories a day makes me fat, 1200 lets me lose weight slowly (which I need to because I am fat)

Speaking of which… here's something to try:
Take a can of pop. Take note of its sugar content.
Pour out a that same amount of sugar (by weight) onto a kitchen scale.
Ask yourself: would I rather drink the pop or just eat the sugar?

oh, I know. I have been doing something similar with my snacks.......I look at the fat from calories and if it's over 40% I don't eat it at all because in my head it's like just eating lard. (yuck!) I will try the soda thing though, sounds like it would work for me.

I am 5'0" even thankyouverymuch.

also, I am on a lot of meds that screw up my metabolism so eating 2K calories a day makes me fat, 1200 lets me lose weight slowly (which I need to because I am fat)

Ah, that explains it. :p 1200 calories a day and I'd be like a zombie walking around. ;)

Ah, that explains it. :p 1200 calories a day and I'd be like a zombie walking around. ;)

I pretty much am........but for other reasons (lack of sleep mostly LOL)

I lost 16 lbs (from 197 lbs to 181) in just over a month (started in March) and have stayed at that weight while putting on more muscle without much trauma. Went on a controlled diet plan for the month-- just long enough to learn better, smarter eating habits-- and since then I've just applied what I learned, even though I've slipped back a little, eating a bit of the same old 'bad' things again. But the basics were to cut back on the fat, but back on the sodium, reduce carbs a bit, replace junk food snacks with fruit & vegetables, drink a lot more water (albeit with Crystal Lite because I hate just regular water) to help quell the appetite and dissolve & flush out fat, and cut back to hardly ever eating at fast food places (not counting SubWay), but that was easy when I started thinking of them as deadly poison. I still have nachos and deep fried icecream almost every Sunday at a Mexican resturaunt, a handful of chips or roasted peanuts most days if I feel like it, I still have a bit of chocolate when I feel like it... didn't have to give up anything I really couldn't do just as happily without. Had to learn to spread eating out more, too-- breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper, snack (all smaller portions, though, not huge meals) to get the metabolism running constantly, but as a result I'm rarely 'hungry.' And I spent that first month doing half an hour of cardio a few times a week, and have added weightlifting since then. Another upside is that it's cheaper preparing your own food (though there's a bit of money shock when you first throw out or give away all the crap in your kitchen and replace it with healthier stuff) than it is eating out all the time, and my energy's more regulated (and abundant). So, yeah, it isn't a huge or difficult lifestyle change to make. Anyone should be able do it with a *little* bit of willpower, if they want to.

Only one way to lose weight overnight, and that's get liposuction. Fad diets seem mostly to be "leave out food group A and lose weight!". Pity people forget that they need food group A.
What if food group A is pork rinds? Are you arguing that people need pork rinds? Because I'll go out and buy some if that is the case.

What if food group A is pork rinds? Are you arguing that people need pork rinds? Because I'll go out and buy some if that is the case.

I think you can eat pork rinds or anything you like so long as you're under your calorie limit for the day - whether you lack vitamins and need to take supplements later is another thing, though. :p

Heh, my dad once told me over breakfast that he was going to become a vegetarian, so that he would be healthy. He didn't even last till lunch.

I lost the most weight when I ate healthier, and exercised a little bit. Really, common sense approaches work the best. Fad diets work short term, but are generally pretty crappy for healthy long-term results.

The only time I lost weight is when I had a bad case of the summer flu.

New Stalinberg's weight loss plan in a few easy steps:

1. Get off the couch and turn of the TV.

2. Cut out junk food. Yes. All of it. No, the salads and chicken at Micky Ds are NOT healthy.

3. Whatever you're eating, eat less of it.

4. Drinking 4 gallons of diet coke and taking brisk walks does not count as exercising. This is a slacker's reaction to step 1.

5. Don't buy a dumb exercise bike, buy a real bike and start going up hills. Remember, the more it sucks the healthier it is.

6. Exercise by doing something strenuous! This is a follow up for steps 4 and 5.

7. Follow steps 1 through 6.

Heh, I always kinda snicker at diets. Granted, I'm one of those people that eats what they want, when they want, in whatever quantity they want and still stays thin. I'm 5'9" and 155ish, without any kind of regular exercise schedule. Granted, I tend to eat at least somewhat healthily (I'll fry up some chicken and veggies to go with my ramen), but weight has never been an issue for me. Thus, my response to anyone wanting to lose weight? Exercise more, eat healthier, eat less. Y'know, common sense (which is growing increasingly rarer).

I thought this was about diets. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_%28assembly%29)

I thought this was about diets. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_%28assembly%29)
Every thread you touch turns to fabulous.

I absolutely hate the idea of diets. There are better ways to lose weight then to resist intake or only eat a certain food item.

Goodness....and the people who invent these diets? What credentials do they have to be naively convincing thousands of imbeciles to eat their diet and buy their books?


Dakini said it the best, get a damn bike and stop being lazy. That's the best thing you can do to lose weight. And you know, if you exercise regularly, you can even afford to eat a Big Mac once in while.

:D

I thought this was about diets. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_%28assembly%29)

I think Worms was the only one I learned about in school, though learning to pronounce it killed most of the humor. :p

A friend of mine from mylast job swears by the cabbage soup diet. :p Probably not the best strategy, but it works occasionally, it seems.

It works in the short term because you lose water weight. That, and you're supposed to eat it for two of three meals. Sure, few calories and lots of fiber. But if you're not supplementing it with other stuff -- not healthy.

You have no idea how much you can grow to hate the smell of cabbage.

my mom was on one of those "eat whatever you want" diets........except she had this book of what she could eat, which really wasn't anything that she liked (she is uber-addicted to junk food) so she would "substitute"

for example

diet's breakfast plan- 1c fresh fruit, 1c cottage cheese, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- 1c fruit and yogurt, 8oz full fat milk

diet's lunch- half turkey sandwich no mayo, handful of almonds, 8oz water
mom's substitutions- foot long turkey sandwich with cheese and mayo, bag of chips, 64oz diet coke

yeah, she gained weight and blamed the diet :rolleyes: oh, and it said to exercise like 40 minutes a day, she substituted that too, she decided that if she just 'kept moving' all day that it would count.

she is really excited about this new FDA approved diet pill now. :p

Hint: she better start a low fat diet -- the side effect they don't mention too loudly is that Alli makes you incontinent -- she'll soil herself if she doesn't lay off the fatty foods.

It works in the short term because you lose water weight. That, and you're supposed to eat it for two of three meals. Sure, few calories and lots of fiber. But if you're not supplementing it with other stuff -- not healthy.

You have no idea how much you can grow to hate the smell of cabbage.

I believe it. :p Though I love sauerkraut. I think I could eat a bucket of it when it's made right, if my intestines could handle it.

I believe it. :p Though I love sauerkraut. I think I could eat a bucket of it when it's made right, if my intestines could handle it.

Try it for two weeks running, twice a day.
Anything you have to eat every day twice a day will make you want to stop eating altogether.

Try it for two weeks running, twice a day.
Anything you have to eat every day twice a day will make you want to stop eating altogether.

That's probably true. I went maybe three months on soup once, for lack of money. Didn't like it much after a while.

Fucking hell, 5000 calories a day?? Women are recommended 2000kcal a day from what I remember and that's with some exercise. Anyway, all diets are a load of horseshit. They're often unhealthy and once people come off their diets it's not uncommon for them to actually gain weight above their original weight. When doctors say people need a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise it's for a reason. A shortcut is the longest distance between two points ;)

I'm usually only hungry for about 1500 calories per day.

try fasting all day, and only eating one meal a night.. its not fun either. but i am sticking too it.

try fasting all day, and only eating one meal a night.. its not fun either. but i am sticking too it.

that's really bad for you, you should eat 6 small meals during the day to keep your blood sugar level, otherwise your body goes into survival mode and you will get sick.

that's really bad for you, you should eat 6 small meals during the day to keep your blood sugar level, otherwise your body goes into survival mode and you will get sick.

Well, I am doing this for spiritual purposes(and honestly I shouldn't bring it up to people, as it might come off as bragging and such)

Well, I am doing this for spiritual purposes(and honestly I shouldn't bring it up to people, as it might come off as bragging and such)

oh, that, well then.